Gauntlet Hair

Jan

posted by tommy

They say that there are only two things you can ever be sure of, and those are death and taxes. Today however, I propose a third, for I have a surefire, tried and tested method of discovering new music that does. not. fail. If I want to be certain of discovering several albums of quality, all I need do is post my ‘Top 10 Albums’ list in any given year and the moment I hit the ‘Publish Post’ button, I will instantaneously find out about multiple records that should have been on the list, effectively undermining what’s already been chosen. This year, there were two records in particular that came to my attention immediately after posting 2011′s top 10.

The first of these was Who Kill by tUnE-yArDs which found itself victim of my scorn for all things hypem. The record is amazing but I never listened to a anything more than a ten second snippet as it seemed to be written and spoken about everywhere while noone actually seemed to be listening to it, which for me is usually a bad sign.

The songs you’re about to listen to now are not those of tUnE-yArDs but the second of the two, a Colorado duo known as Gauntlet Hair. I heard these gents on Gorilla Vs Bear a while back and sort of liked what I heard, but for the most past I let those songs float back into the ether. I didn’t realise they had a new record out until Katie Brown harped on about it late last year, putting it into her top 10 and placing their songs in my inbox.

I don’t know how best to describe the record in that it’s like nothing else I’ve heard. The Animal collective comparison that I’m so fond of drawing is relevant here again and there’s obviously jangling reverb + echo effects coming out the eyeballs. Beats are so nicely rounded out that they have the effect of being muffled through walls, much like the sounds of the thunderous bass within a club being listened to from without. I’ve chosen two of the “bigger” tracks on the record, both of which would breath well at festivals I’d imagine. You never know, we might see them out here for next year’s Laneway. They might not immediately feel it, but both songs benefit from some real volume. Turn it up.

Gauntlet Hair – ‘Keep Time’

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[DOWNLOAD]

Gauntlet Hair – ‘Mop It Up’

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Just so you know what’s what, here’s a track from the tUnE-yArDs album that I mentioned way up there.

tUnE-yArDs – ‘Bizness’

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